The present invention relates to collecting geographic data for a geographic database and more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for collecting lane attribute information for a geographic database.
Geographic databases have various uses. Geographic databases are used in in-vehicle navigation systems, personal computers, networked computing environments, and various other kinds of platforms, as well as on the Internet. Geographic databases are used with various kinds of applications to provide various navigation-related and map-related functions including map display, route calculation, route guidance, driver assistance systems, truck fleet deployment, traffic control, traffic monitoring, electronic yellow pages, roadside assistance, emergency services, and so on.
In order to provide these kinds of functions, a geographic database includes data that represent geographic features in a region. The geographic features that are represented in a geographic database may include roads, intersections, and so on. A geographic database includes information about the represented geographic features, such as the geographic coordinates of roads in a geographic region, speed limits along the road segments, locations of stop lights, turn restrictions at intersections of roads, address ranges, street names, and so on.
Collecting information for a geographic database is a significant task. Not only is the initial collection of data a significant undertaking, but also a geographic database needs to be updated on a regular basis. For example, new streets are constructed, street names change, traffic signals are installed, and turn restrictions are added to existing roads. Also, new levels of detail may be added about geographic features that are already represented in an existing geographic database. For example, an existing geographic database for roads may be enhanced with information about lane widths, shoulder sizes, traffic signs, lane barriers, address ranges, sidewalks, bicycles paths, etc. Thus, there exists a need to continue to collect information for a geographic database.
One type of information that is useful to include in a geographic database is lane attribute information. Lane attribute information includes a number of lanes comprising a road segment, a lane width, and a lane centerline. One way to obtain lane attribute information is to physically measure each lane, such as with survey equipment. However, physical measurements are relatively expensive to perform and relatively time consuming. Another way to obtain lane attribute information is with a data collection vehicle. A company that produces geographic databases employs technicians (referred to as “researchers”) to physically travel throughout assigned areas in specially equipped data collection vehicles to collect and record information about geographic features for inclusion in and updating of a master copy of a geographic database. One consideration of the using the data collection vehicle is that the equipment is relatively expensive and the collection process is relatively time consuming.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a relatively inexpensive way to determine lane attribute information.